The Import process can be used to mass modify data within your account. This can be header information and also the linked tab information at the bottom of each record.
The examples below are to give you a general idea how to find and update existing data in the grid. As there are many updates that can be made to the data, if you are not sure on how to progress then please contact the helpdesk and they will be able to guide you.
Select the templates that you wish to update and then press [Next], you will be presented with an empty grid, click the [...] option and then select 'Populate with existing data' option, this will then populate the grid with the correct records ready for you to update.
Fig 1 - Populate with existing data
Changing Header Information
Header information can be updated easily using the bulk update feature but only if the information that needs to be updated is the same value on each record you have selected.
Using the Import process you can view all the existing information and make changes to whatever fields you want and with whatever values you wish, subject to validation.
In the example below we are going to select a group of Contract records and update various fields for them, here we have populated all the Contract records for this account.
Fig 2 - Pre populated Contract records
Any of the fields displayed in the grid can be updated, you can overwrite data, use copy and paste, or use the drop down lists to select alternate values or to remove or add new values.
In the below example we have updated various values in 3 different records. They are orange because these are cells that have been modified but not yet validated.
Fig 3 - Modified values
If the auto validation has been switched on then each cell will validate as soon as you click away from the cell, if it is not switched on then you can press the [Re-Validate Now] icon. Auto validation is defaulted as on.
Any changes that you do in a cell will validate, if you have entered an invalid value then the cell will turn red or the row will turn grey, the hover will tell you the validation error.
Fig 4 - Error hover display
For more information about validation, please refer to this article.
Once you are happy with all your template data, and there are no validation errors, the [Start Import] button will become active and you can process your Import.
Changing Sub Tab Information
Sub tab header information for example Alerts or Tasks can be updated directly as in the example above, but what is more common is that only certain sub tab data will require an update based upon what it is linked to . For example, someone may have left the organisation and their Contracts and some associated records need to be transferred to different People.
In this example 'Dave Green' has left the Company and we need to do three changes to our data:
- All Contracts assigned to Dave Green need to be reassigned to Judy Weeks
- All Alerts assigned to Dave Green need to be reassigned to Peter Andrews
- All Tasks assigned to Dave Green need to be reassigned to Jack Speaker
For these changes we will be updating Contract People, Alerts and Tasks so we will be selecting the Contract People, Alert and Task templates and we will be using filters to segregate the data so we are updating only the applicable records.
Fig 5 - Creating an Import set
Example Contract People Update
In the Contract People tab, use the [...] icon and choose, 'Populate with existing data' to fill the grid. Once the data is loaded, at this moment every Contract Person link record from the whole account is presented.
We need to update the 'Person column' and replace all instances of 'Dave Green' with 'Judy Weeks'.
Fig 6 - Identifying records
To easily do this we can use the filter to only display those records where 'Dave Green is mentioned in the Person column.
- Switch off the Auto Re-validation option - this is an optional action, but is useful when using a filter
Click the filter icon on the top right of the grid, the filter slider will open on the right of the screen.
Fig 7 - Using the filter
Each column is listed in the filter panel go to the 'E) Person' field and enter 'Green' and the click the apply filter button at the top of the panel.
The grid will now update to only display those records where 'Green' is mentioned in that column.
Fig 8 - Filtered records
Click the + icon in the cell and a drop down list will appear, use the scroll or search and find the option for 'Judy Weeks' and select. The option in the cell will update and change to Judy Weeks.
Fig 9 - Cell Drop down list
If you have auto re-validation switched on, the cell will immediately validate and the record will drop out of the grid display - this is because you still have the filter to only shown records with 'Green' applied, as this is now changed then it does not apply.
If you have the auto re-validation switched off then the record will go orange awaiting validation. You can then use the drag and drop option to copy the 'Judy Weeks' value down to all the rest of the records, see below.
Fig 10 - Copying values to other cells using drag
Once this is complete you can manually validate the values by clicking on the revalidate now icon or turning the auto re-validation back on.
Fig 11 - Updated cells
Once validation is completed the grid should clear because your filter is still applied no more records contain the value of 'Green'
Click the filter icon again and use the 'clear filter' option to remove your filter.
Fig - 12 - Filtered grid
All your records should now populate in the grid again, no record should be associated to Dave Green.
Fig 12 - Updated records
You have now adjusted the data to remove Dave Green from these Contract records and assigned the correct Person.
Press [Save] to save your changes in your Import set. Move across to the Alert template to do the next update.
Example Alert Linked People Update
In the Alert tab use the [...] icon and choose, 'Populate with existing data' to fill the grid. Once the data is loaded, at this moment every Alert here from the whole account is presented, both Complete and Active. We need to update the column 'Linked People' and remove all instances of 'Dave Green' with 'Peter Andrews'.
Fig 13 - Alert identified records
As before do these steps:
- Switch off the Auto Re-validation option
- Open the filter panel and enter 'Green' into the 'Linked People' filter
- Apply the filter
The grid will update and show all records where 'Green' has been entered. Alerts are a little different because you can have Alerts with multiple People linked to then, this is shown as multiple values in the cell, see below.
Fig 14 - Multi select cells
Click the + in the cell and select 'Peter Andrews, you will now have both 'Dave Green and 'Peter Andrews' in the cell, click the x in the 'Dave Green' option to remove it from the cell, you will be then left with just a value for 'Peter Andrews' You can then use the same Drag option to drag the updated cell value to other cells
Fig 15 - Update using drag option
When it comes to updating a cell with multiple values, just remove the unwanted value using the 'x' and use the drop down to add the new value. Continue until all your records have been updated.
Once this is complete you can manually validate the values by clicking on the revalidate now icon or turning the auto re-validation back on.
Once validation is completed the grid should clear because your filter is still applied no more records contain the value of 'Green'.
Click the filter icon again to view the filter panel and use the 'clear filter' option to remove your filter. The screen will update and all records will now display in the grid.
You have now adjusted the data to remove 'Dave Green' from these Alert records and assigned the correct Person.
Press [Save] to save your changes to your import set. Move across to the Task Tab.
Example Task Assigned to People Update
In the Task tab use the [...] icon and choose, 'Populate with existing data' to fill the grid. Once the data is loaded, at this moment every Task here from the whole account is presented. We need to update the column 'Assigned to Person' and remove all instances of 'Dave Green' with 'Jack Speaker'. Repeat the actions that we did above.
- Switch off the Auto Re-validation option
- Open the filter panel and enter 'Green' into the 'Assigned to Person' filter
- Apply the filter
- Update the values of Dave Green to using the actions detailed above
- Manually validate the grid
- Clear the filter
- All records should now display with the updated values
- Press [Save] to save your updated Import set
Fig 16 - Task records updated
Once your updates are done. the orange [Start Import] button should become active, if it is not active then there are errors in one of your templates, go back through the template and fix the errors - you can use the 'Show only invalid rows?' button to help identify then. Each error will be in red and a hover will display the error that has been found.
Fig 17 - Invalid row option
Please Note: The changes you make in a grid will be kept if you navigate from tab to tab , but if you try to navigate away from the main Import screen then it will prompt you to Save, it is always good practice to Save as you go along using the [Save] option, only one draft file will be generated, each Save will overlap the previous.
Once you are happy with your template data, press the [Start Import] button, to process your changes.